An unplanned photographic experience in Budapest
Summer is now here and this is usually a time for travel, vacations and relaxation. For me, traditionally, June is just another month that passes on the way to some journey that is planned for later in the year, when the weather stars to cool in Romania, and we start yearning for warmer climates. This year, however, things are a bit different.
The month started with a concert in Budapest, so we decided to make a short vacation out of it. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to unwind a bit and explore the city more than I had in the past. Even though I live relatively close, I had never actually spent any meaningful amount of time in Budapest, and I had never went exploring with my camera. So this time, I would pack my camera and I would take full advantage of the fact that I had a couple of days to spend in the city.
Not wanting to carry any heavier gear with me, because I wanted to explore and let the city, it’s sights and sounds guide my interest, I took different approach to my gear selection. Now, there are photographers who will say that the lens selection is perfect for the environment and style I would be shooting in, but for me, it was a bit out of the ordinary. FOMO being what it is, I usually travel with a versatile zoom lens, a tripod and at least another lens which, more often than not, is my super-wide zoom. This time, I chose to grab my small Fujifilm X-E4 as it is very discreet, and I paired it with 2 equally discreet lenses, my Fuji 35 F2 and a 7artisans 25 F1.4. I love shooting with primes for other projects so I knew that if I can just put aside any unfounded fears of not having enough options, I would be able do capture what I want using just these 2 lenses.
So off I went, gear in my back but that’s about it. I didn’t really plan anything else, not any relevant landmarks or times to shoot, not even which direction to start walking. Everything was decided on the day, before heading out the door, and it was just something like “Let’s head toward that thing and see what happens.”. And here is what resulted.
